Disclaimer: SM owns Twilight

Chapter 3

BPOV

"Hello?"

"Alice, hey it's me. Do you have time to talk?"

"Sure I just dismissed my class I was going to meet you in the lounge. What's going on?" Alice asked sounding a little worried now. I usually don't need to call her since we always meet at the teacher's lounge or she comes down to my classroom, but I'm still feeling a little jittery from meeting Edward earlier.

"I don't know really. I met a student's dad." I lamely explained.

"Well was it bad? Was he rude to you?" she asked.

"No, no nothing like that," I told her, I couldn't even explain myself to her. "Can you come to my classroom instead? I need some privacy."

"Yeah I'll be there in a sec." We hung up and I waited for her to come downstairs.

I loved that Alice and I worked in the same school and what was even better was that we were in the same building. She had her 1st grade class upstairs. So when my class was out she was sending her kids off to lunch for an hour and that gave us some time to talk before I went home for the day. That's if we didn't have any meetings or parent-teacher conferences, which she had often because according to her I sent her all my overactive-troublemaking-students. Whatever.

My kids were all good when they were in my class.

"Bella," Alice called out when she came through the door.

"Back here Alice!" I called from my office. Yes, I had an office in my classroom. Alice always hated that she just had a desk when I had an actual room to get away when I needed. Ha!

"Oh no, am I in trouble Principle Swan?" Alice mocked me. Jealous bitch.

"Shut up Al." I laughed with her. I motioned for her to sit on one of my comfy chairs.

"So what's got you calling me and acting all weird?" she said and I sighed.

"Like I said, I don't know, but this parent that I met, his name is Edward." I paused trying to collect my thoughts. "I felt attracted to him and not just because of his looks. Although that alone is enough justification.

"I mean Alice, I felt drawn to him and-"

"Um ok Bella, I know you haven't dated much but you can't date a married man and especially not a student's dad," she interrupted me and looked really concerned for me. I almost laughed at her, but she didn't know the whole story.

"Alice, I'm not delusional. He's not married, he's divorced. I've met his ex-wife before."

"Oh thank god. I thought you lost your morals for a second there," she laughed as she reached over to slap my arm. I had to chuckle. Alice was always one for dramatics.

"Ok so tell me about this guy then."

"Well first of all he oozes sex appeal." I fanned myself with my hand. "He's got dreamy eyes and a sexy smile. And I have to admit, I checked out his ass when he walked away. I was NOT disappointed." I sighed as I recalled that view.

"He sounds perfect Bella!" Alice told me with excitement as she clapped her hands. "You have to go out with him. You haven't been out on a date in a while. You need it. Did he seem interested in you?" she rambled off.

"Well he was kind of staring at me and looked a little embarrassed when I caught him, but he was here for his son and not to pick up on his son's teacher." I tried to rationalize.

"Either way that's a good sign; maybe he'll ask you out. But don't wait too long. You'll have to step up to the plate if he doesn't ask," she told me. I groaned because I totally hated that. I think I'll be too embarrassed to ask him out.

"Aghh, I don't know what to do. This is a new feeling for me, Alice. I feel like if I don't go for it I'm gonna miss out on something really great. It's a weird unnerving feeling."

"Don't worry Bella, if it's meant to be, then it's meant to be."

I knew she was right. I just needed to let all these feelings out. I loved her like the sister I never had. I could always count on her for advice.

"Thanks for listening Alice. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"No problem," Alice said. She looked at her watch and told me she needed to go soon. "Do you want to come over for dinner tonight, Jasper's grilling burgers on his new grill," she told me as she rolled her eyes. I chuckled.

Alice married Jasper three years ago and they now have a two year old little boy, Ryan. I won't lie; sometimes I feel like I will never have what she has. I see how happy her life is and especially after she had Ryan. That boy brought on a whole other level of happy for her. I wanted that someday too. I just didn't know how to put my heart out there again.

"Yeah I wouldn't want to miss Jasper trying to teach your two year old how to grill." We laughed at the thought. Jasper was one of those dads that wanted to do everything with his son even though he wasn't old enough yet.

Alice had mentioned a few months back that they might be trying for another baby soon. She really wanted a little girl. Either way she said she would be happy to give Ryan another sibling. I was happy for her but my heart broke just a little bit more.

"Oh god, don't remind me." She covered her face with her hands and shook her head. "Maybe you can help convince him that Ryan doesn't need to know that right now."

I laughed. "I'll try, I'll see you later," I told her as I walked her out of my classroom.

My schedule is usually always the same every day. I get to work at 7:00am, dismiss my class at Noon, have lunch with Alice and go home by 1:30 if there are no meetings or other things I need to tend to for my class.

I packed up my things and locked my classroom.

I walked to the teacher parking lot and instantly felt giddy when I saw my new car; a black BMW 650i Convertible. It took me years of savings plus "mom and dad money" for the down payment and probably many more years to actually pay it off, but it was so damn worth it. My mom and dad went with me to pick it out and my dad almost had a heart attack when he saw the price. Thankfully though, that didn't stop him from giving his little girl some of his retirement money so she could buy her dream car. My mom was ecstatic and always the free spirit, she just kept telling dad to loosen up and live a little. She never had a problem spending money.

I loved them both. They made me promise to go visit them more often. I did.

I love driving with the top down and the wind blowing through my hair. It's very freeing, and it is the best thing I've done for myself. Its part of the new me and it seems that this new me might have a new man in the near future. Fingers crossed.

When I got home, I did some cleaning and did my grocery list. I decided to bake chocolate chip cookies to take to Alice's. I added that to my list because I was all out of the mix.

That evening my cookies were a hit with Ryan. Alice threatened to make me take him home if he didn't go to sleep at his bedtime.

Jasper was manning the grill when I got there and I took Ryan from his arms. I told Jasper I wanted to spend time with my "nephew" since I hadn't seen him in a couple of days.

"How's everything going Bella?" he asked me. "Alice tells me you have a new man." He wiggled his eyebrows at me. Oh no.

I looked over to Alice with a hard look and she just shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm being optimistic, Bella. You said yourself that you felt something with him."

"Yes, I know but I'm not sure if he's even available. I'm trying really hard not to get myself worked up over this and I really don't want to talk about this anymore. It's stressing me out."

I turned and walked back into their house with Ryan to get him some juice. Jasper followed me to the kitchen.

"Listen Bella, we just want you to be happy. I'm sorry if Alice is a little pushy." I gave him a look when he said a little. He chuckled. "Ok she's a lot pushy but she means well."

I know she means well but every time she sets me up on a date and it doesn't work out, I feel like a failure. It lessens my hope of ever finding someone that I connect with, someone that I actually see a future with. I'm past the casual dating at this point, I want a committed relationship. I want someone that sees marriage and kids in their future too.

"Yeah I know she does." I sighed at him. "I have a lot on my mind right now, I just want to relax here with you guys and enjoy your awesome burgers." I gave him a huge smile as I bounced Ryan on my hip.

All was forgotten for the time being when we went back outside. We ate and talked about anything and everything.

I was glad to have them in my life.

EPOV

After school I took Nathan back to my place to fix him some lunch. He tried to convince me that his mom lets him have dessert before eating, but I sure didn't and I definitely wasn't going to risk getting in trouble with Kate. So I promised to take him for some ice cream only if he stopped pouting and after we ate our lunch. That worked well and he smiled at me.

I fixed him up some dinosaur chicken nuggets with cut up apples. I made myself a chicken sandwich with apples too.

We ate in the living room in front of the TV.

"Did you like Miss Bella, daddy?"

That was a loaded question all of a sudden. All I had to say was "yes I liked your teacher, she seems nice." But my manhood twitched at the mention of Bella. I was a perv now.

"Da-aad" Nathan interrupted my dirty mind. "You're ignoring me, you said that was rude. You have to answer when someone asks you a question."

Great now I'm getting lectured by my five year old.

"Um sorry, yeah I think she was really nice. And she looks like a fun teacher."

"She is daddy." I smiled at him. He was so innocent.

After we got ice cream, I dropped him off at Kate's. She thanked me for picking him up for her. It was no big deal. I planned to do it more often now.

The next day I took Nathan to school, but didn't get to talk to Bella. She was busy with another parent. I had to go in to work so I didn't pick up Nathan. I didn't know when I would see Bella again.

Would it be wrong if I asked her out? I really wanted to.

Friday night, while doing my rounds my dad caught up with me and invited us over for a BBQ at their house. Emmett, Rose and the kids were going too. The kids love going to their grandparents house, they had a big pool amongst other fun things. My parents enjoyed spoiling the kids so their house was always equipped with things to do. They even had their own playroom with Xbox and other games. To say that Emmett and I were jealous was an understatement. It's not to say that we didn't have cool things when we were growing up, it's just that we got our privileges taken away often because we were always getting into trouble.

I drove up to my parent's house on Saturday with Nathan. He was excited to be spending the day with his cousins and grandparents.

"Daddy, are Liam and Logan here yet?" he asked before I got him out of the truck.

"Yes, they're here already, but when we go in you need to say hi to Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Emmett and Aunt Rosalie first." He had a habit of running in and going straight to the backyard to play with his cousins.

"Ok," he said as he reached to grab my hand. We walked up the stairs together.

"Nathan, one more thing, I don't want any fighting. You need to share with your cousins. If they fight with you, come tell me or Uncle Emmett I don't want you hitting anyone. We want to have a fun day today." I told him with a stern look for emphasis.

I don't know why but for some reason there is always some sort of fighting between the three boys. Yes, they are boys, but we have to put a stop to it when they actually start to hit each other. They all get punished and then it's no longer fun for anyone. We then have to deal with three pouty boys the rest of the day.

"Ok, daddy," Nathan mumbled and looked down.

I kneeled down in front of him and urged him to look at me.

"Hey I'm not mad at you; I was just trying to remind you. Sorry if I sounded mad."

"s'Okay daddy, I'm not sad because of that." he paused and looked a little apprehensive. "It's because Liam and Logan sometimes don't want to play with me cuz they say I'm a baby. But I'm not a baby, I'm five." He held up his hand to show me how old he was.

This love hate relationship between the kids had me all mixed up. They don't want to be away from each other, but then they fight. It isn't always the two against Nathan, I know that already. He's caused trouble with the boys before with his sharing problem. He used to get away with it before because he's two years younger, but now he should know better. He's had too many time outs to know that I don't approve of his behavior, especially when he gets really possessive and starts hitting when Liam or Logan get his toys.

I rubbed my hands over my face. I didn't know how to fix the situation when the kids didn't want to play with him. Yes, I'd tell Emmett, but then he'd be real hard on the boys. We didn't want to cause any more trouble.

"I know you're not a baby, but either way you need to tell me if they're fighting with you. Don't try to handle it on your own cuz then you'll be in trouble too. Okay?"

Mom and dad came up to the foyer when they heard us come in.

"Hi mom, dad." I hugged them both and they turned their attention to Nathan.

"Hi grandma, hi grandpa," he said to them as my mom picked Nathan up to smother him to death.

"How's my beautiful grandbaby?" mom gushed.

Nathan pushed himself back to look at my mom. He looked upset. Damnit.

"I'm not a baby, I'm FIVE!" He raised his voice when he said five. My mom was taken aback by his outburst. I apologized for his behavior and took him from her arms. I was mortified and upset.

"Sorry about that, excuse us." I turned to the living room to handle the situation.

I sat Nathan down on the couch. He knew he was in trouble. I kneeled so that I could be at his level.

"You do not raise your voice at grandma like that. Ever." I looked at him with a pointed look. "You're gonna sit here in time out for five minutes, then you're gonna go apologize to her."

He started crying. I took a deep breath.

It's not like I spanked him or anything, although I probably should have. I've spanked him before for yelling in my face. It's something that's not tolerated, but in this case I know he's frustrated about being called a "baby".

"You can cry all you want, Nathan. You know that was wrong. I'll come get you in five minutes."

I went out back where the family was hanging out.

"Hey, bro!" Emmett yelled when he saw me come out. "Where's Nate."

"Oh he'll be out in a bit," I told him. We gave each other a hug and I went over to hug Rosalie. They were sitting with my parents on the patio chairs my mom had placed so we could watch the kids in the pool. It was fresh in the shade, but it was still a good day to get in the pool.

"Hey Rose, how are ya?"

"Good Edward thanks."

"I hope you weren't too hard on Nathan, Edward," my dad told me as he handed me a beer.

"Nah, he's just in time out for five minutes, but I have to correct him when he's wrong dad. I'm gonna go get him in a little bit."

"What'd he do now?" Emmett asked.

"He's just a little upset right now about being called a "baby" by your kids, so when mom called him her 'grandbaby' he had a little outburst." I chuckled and shook my head. My son is just not having any of that today. He's five!

"Dammit, I'll talk with the boys," Emmett said as he started getting up to go get the kids. I told him that was not necessary.

"We'll just handle things as they go. I don't want you getting mad at them right now. They haven't done anything to him."

I got up and went back into the house. I passed by the kitchen where mom was now making fruit salad.

I nodded at her toward the living room letting her know I was getting Nathan. She looked in the direction I pointed to and she gave me a small smile. She never handles it well when the kids get punished but she doesn't interfere even if it's killing her not to.

"He's fine mom. Don't look so sad." I hugged and kissed her.

"I know, I just don't like to hear him cry," she sniffled and wiped her eyes. My mom was too dramatic with all this. I left her in the kitchen before she made me feel guilty.

Nathan was sniffling a little when I walked in. I kneeled down in front of him and I explained again why he got in trouble. He promised not to do it again.

"Ok well times up, lets go outside with everyone." I held my hand out and he happily took it.

On our way out he apologized to grandma and once outside he greeted everyone. He ran off to play with Liam and Logan the second he got a chance to.

Emmett and dad started the grill a while later. I went over to help them while Rose went to help in the kitchen. I wanted to take this time to ask them about Bella.

"So, I need some advice with something." I was fidgeting and they both stopped to give me their undivided attention.

"What's going on son?" my dad asked.

"Well as you know, I took Nathan to school the other day and I met his teacher…"

Dad and Emmett nodded and looked at me expectantly when I didn't continue. I sighed.

"Come on Edward spit it out."

"Ok, would it be wrong if I asked Nathan's teacher out? I really hope you say it's not wrong because there's something about this girl that's really special. I know I just met her but I'm really attracted to her," I rambled so they wouldn't get a word in.

Emmett laughed at me. Douche.

"Dude, you're such a girl. Just ask her out. I know you haven't gotten any in a while you need it bad." I rolled my eyes at him.

"Emmett!" dad scolded him. "Edward is being serious here. He's not asking us so you can make fun of him."

"Sorry dad but it is kind of funny." We decided to ignore him.

"Edward, it's not bad to ask her out but you should probably not tell Nathan yet. You should see where your relationship will go first, and then think about telling him." That made sense to me.

"Thanks dad."

The rest of the day went great. The kids had fun in the pool while the adults hung out on the porch.

My dad talked to me about working at the clinic. He said he was ready to add me to the staff there and the other doctors were notified as well. I just needed to tell him when I will be able to start. I told him I'd have an answer for him soon and that I was excited about venturing into this with him.

Emmett wouldn't keep his mouth shut about me wanting to go out with Nathan's teacher, so I had to let everyone know the details. I told them her name was Bella and that she was a very beautiful and sophisticated woman. My mom was ecstatic. She couldn't keep the huge smile off her face. I had to keep reminding her that I wasn't actually dating her, I was thinking about it. She just dismissed it with a wave of her hand.

"I just know you'll be bringing her over to family BBQs in no time." My mom was beaming, and even though I wanted to roll my eyes at her, I secretly wished that was true.

I haven't brought anyone around my family since my divorce with Kate, and I was now hoping that Bella would change that.

Hell, I'm hoping she'll agree to go out with me when I ask her the next time I see her.